Sir Royston Miles "Roy" Goode (born 6 April 1933) is an academic commercial lawyer in the United Kingdom. He founded the

Centre for Commercial Law Studies Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and previously Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of ...

Queen Mary, University of London , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...

. He was awarded the OBE in 1972 followed by the

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1994 before being

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed for services to academic law in 2000.

Education and early life

He was educated at Highgate School in

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...

,Highgate School Register 7th Edn 1833–1988, Ed. Patrick Hughes & Ian F Davies 1989 and obtained his

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...

by external study through the

University of London External Programme The University of London Worldwide (previously called the University of London International Academy) is the central academic body that manages external study programmes within the federal University of London. All courses are branded as simply ...

in 1954. He completed the LLD at London in 1976 and the DCL at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in 2005.

Career

He was admitted as a solicitor in 1955; he was later called to the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1988. Goode spent 17 years in private practice as a solicitor before turning to academia. While in practice, he wrote a series of legal textbooks. He began by writing a text on hire purchase as nothing had been written on the subject in the previous 20 years; he knew nothing about this area of law but researched it and produced a text which launched his legal writing career. He joined

Queen Mary University of London , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...

in 1971 as Professor of Law. He served from 1976 to 1980 as Head of Department. He served as the Crowther Professor of Credit and Commercial Law from 1973 to 1989. Then he left Queen Mary for the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

to become the

Norton Rose Norton Rose Fulbright is a British-American multinational law firm. It is the second largest law firm in the United States and one of the ten largest in the world, by both lawyers and revenue. In 2017–18, Norton Rose Fulbright had total reven ...

Professor of

English Law English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, be ...

in 1990, serving until 1998; now he is an now an

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of Law at the University. Concurrently he served as a fellow of

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

between 1990 and 1998; now an

Emeritus Fellow ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

. Goode was also a member of the Crowther Committee on

Consumer Credit Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt ...

, the

Monopolies and Mergers Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under UK competition law, competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competiti ...

and the DTI Advisory Committee on Arbitration. He chaired the Pension Law Review Committee, which was set up following the Maxwell scandal, and which led to a report on '' Pension Law Reform'' and the

Pensions Act 1995 The Pensions Act 1995c 26 is a piece of United Kingdom legislation to improve the running of pension schemes. Background Following the death of Robert Maxwell, it became clear that he had embezzled a large amount of money from the pension fund ...

. He was previously chairman of the executive committee of

JUSTICE Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

, the all-party human rights and law reform organisation, and a member of the Governing Council of

UNIDROIT UNIDROIT (formally, the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law; French: ''Institut international pour l'unification du droit privé'') is an intergovernmental organization whose objective is to harmonize international privat ...

. He is also known for his writings on documentary letters of credit and demand guarantees; he has called these financial instruments "abstract payment undertakings". He was made a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

in 1988. He was made a QC in 1990. He was made an

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

in the same year. He was made an honorary

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can ...

of the

in 1992.

Personal life

He is married and has one daughter.

Publications

* *''Consumer Credit Law and Practice'' (General Editor) *''Consumer Credit Reports'' (General Editor) * * *''Payment Obligations in Commercial and Financial Transactions''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goode, Roy 1933 births Living people People educated at Highgate School Academics of Queen Mary University of London Alumni of University of London Worldwide Alumni of the University of London Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English solicitors Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of St John's College, Oxford Goode, Roy Knights Bachelor Lawyers awarded knighthoods Legal scholars of the University of Oxford